Mettle Pit Kettlebell gym opens on Frederick Street in Hanover

Jeff Lautenberger - For The Evening Sun
Todd Hinkle practices with a pair of kettlebells at Mettle Pit Kettlebell Gym in Hanover on Wednesday. Kettlebell training is attractive because it involves a range of muscles with an emphasis on core strengthening.

Jeff Lautenberger - For The Evening Sun
Trainees work out with kettlebell exercises at Mettle Pit Kettlebell Gym in Hanover on Wednesday. The fitness and endurance training gym opened in February.

Jason Schimizzi has been a chiropractor for 14 years. He has seen hundreds of patients come into his office as a result of injuries related to exercise.

When one of his patients came into his office six years ago to talk to him about an exercise program made up almost solely of utilizing kettlebells, Schimizzi immediately knew he had found the workout program he had been looking for.

That gave birth to the idea to start a gym in which Schimizzi and his business partner teach a kettlebell style known as Russian Hard-Style.

The Mettle Pit Kettlebell Gym has been open since February on Frederick Street in Hanover.

"I played rugby for 20 years and athletics have always been a part of my life," Schimizzi said. "The thing that I like most about this approach is it teaches functional strength. A lot of gyms you go to, you see people doing bench pressing, but that is not a movement you do in every day life."

Russian Hard-Style focuses on strengthening shoulder muscles, core muscle groups and the overall body, while at the same time providing a good cardio workout and making safety a No. 1 priority.

That comes as a major comfort for Hanover resident Shelley Quinn, who has taken classes at the gym ever since it opened.

Quinn suffers from a bad sciatic nerve that forced her not to be able to get out of bed. From February 2013 until October, she was unable to walk normally. After going to Schimizzi for chiropractic care, he began telling her about the program. She tried it and immediately became hooked.

"I have a bad knee and a bad back," Quinn said. "There are a lot of types of exercise that I cannot do. This is the first thing that I have done consistently without injury, which is a lot for me because I would usually get into something and my knee would give out. I love the workout and I am much stronger and my cardio is better. Anyone that has an issue with their back or anything like that, give this three weeks and you will definitely notice a difference."

Quinn is now working out at least three times a week and is telling all of her friends and anyone she knows who has injuries about it.

Jeff Lautenberger - For The Evening Sun
Katrica Hinkle performs a kettlebell snatch move while training at Mettle Pit Kettlebell Gym in Hanover on Wednesday. Kettlebell training is attractive because it involves a range of muscles with an emphasis on core strengthening.

She added, "I will never stop doing this. This is what I will do from now on. I love it."

One thing Schimizzi sees often in his practice at Schimizzi Family Chiropractic is that as individuals get older, they have a harder time getting out of the chair or getting up from a laying position. That is where the Russian Hard-Style comes in.

"When you do different moves here in the gym, it develops different muscles so that as you get older, you can utilize those muscles more often and for a better purpose," Schimizzi said. "You aren't going to sit at a weight station and push weights above your head. You won't get anything out of that. You need to do stuff that will put you doing everyday movements."

Class sizes are limited to 10 people so that the trainers can give individualized attention to each person and make sure that form and technique are on point before advancing to more difficult moves.

"They are very strict about you doing things with the proper form and are not afraid to stop you if you are doing it wrong," Quinn said. "They customize the workout for the individual to suit your injury history and your ability. You do not feel like it's a competition with the other people here, but you feel support."

Schimizzi points out that this style of workout is for people of all ages and body types. Recently his 14-year-old daughter, 68-year-old mother, Messiah junior basketball athlete daughter and his wife - who did not grow up playing sports - all participated in the class and love it.

"My mom had a great time here and we were only here for an hour and a she didn't learn the entire process, she just learned part of it," he said. "It is for a variety of people. There is no age limit. It is such a great form of cardio."

Now, Schimizzi hopes to utilize his knowledge to help others find injury-free success while doing a workout they enjoy.

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